Stirring memories of Bernie

Gary BlockusAllentown Morning Call

PHILADELPHIA -- It's scary, and for those who are superstitious, you may not want to do it, but it's time to start mentioning Flyers goalie Michael Leighton and Hall of Famer Bernie Parent in the same breath.

Leighton became just the second goaltender in Flyers history to record back-to-back shutouts after Philadelphia beat the Montreal Canadiens 3-0 Tuesday night to take a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference finals best-of-seven series that heads to Canada for Games 3 and 4 on Thursday and Saturday.

"It's obviously an honor," Leighton said of tying Parent's record, who set it April 15 and 17, 1975, en route to the Flyers' second straight Stanley Cup. "But a shutout to me, it means a little bit, but the win means a lot more to me. You know, we could have won 3-1 and I would have been just as happy. We're just looking at the next game now and rolling forward."

Leighton stopped 30 shots on Tuesday, and 28 in Game 1 to extend his consecutive playoff shutout streak to 165 minutes, 50 seconds, the second longest streak in team history.

That streak is owned, coincidentally, by Brian Boucher, the goalie Leighton replaced in the Boston series after Boucher injured both knees. Boucher ran a streak of 184:45 while never recording a shutout thanks to a five-overtime win over Pittsburgh in the 1999-2000 playoffs.

That Leighton, a sixth-year player who turns 29 today is even in goal for the Flyers is as unlikely as them shutting out Montreal in consecutive games. A career backup, he was claimed off waivers 11 days after his former coach, Peter Laviolette, replaced John Stevens as the Flyers head coach earlier this season.

He returned from an ankle injury to dress for the first time in Game 5 against Boston, and replaced Boucher with 24:31 left in the game to preserve a shutout and keep the Flyers rolling forward.

"You know what, to be honest with you I wasn't even sure if he was ready to go [in that game] until ÃÂÃÂ the day before he was going to dress," Flyers center Blair Betts said. "You know, it's kind of ironic. The one day they finally decide to dress him, [Boucher] goes out with an injury. I think that happened the last time he started, the last time he got his opportunity earlier in the year. The one game he came back from an injury, maybe it was Boucher or something like that. Yeah he's just been phenomenal for us."

He's taken that opportunity and turned it into a piece of history as memorable as being down three games to none against Boston, coming back to tie the series, then being down 3-0 in Game 7 and pulling it out 4-3. The Flyers have scored 13 unanswered goals since trailing Boston 3-0 in Game 7.

"Michael's had a rough path here," said Flyers winger Ville Leino, who scored the Flyers' only event-strength goal on Tuesday. "I'm really happy for him. He finally found a place, and he's been awesome ..."

On Tuesday night, Leighton looked otherworldly at times. He stopped nine shots on the power play, five during one sequence in the opening period on Montreal's second power play of the game, stopping crafty Glen Metropolit and Michael Cammalleri. He stopped Cammalleri point blank, then a slapshot by Andrei Kostitsyn, and then Cammalleri twice on rebounds before the power play expired.

"You know, tonight they were on us right off the bat, and I felt good," Leighton said. "We did a good job clearing on our early rebounds, and our penalty kill was good. You know, some nights you almost want to not get tested early and just get perimeter shots to see the puck, but that's kind of just how you feel and how the day's going."

Leighton was equally solid with 8:30 left in the opening period when Andrei Kostitsyn put the puck between the legs of Claude Giroux in the right circle, regained it and put a quick shot that Leighton squared up for the save.

"He has a lot of confidence right now," Giroux said. "He's playing well and hopefully he can keep playing like that and we just have to play better defensively. We gave them a lot of chances, but tonight Leights was our best player on the ice."

For how scary good Leighton has been in goal for the Flyers for the past five games, what's even scarier over these first two games of the Eastern Conference finals is the number of shots he's facing.

"We didn't play our best game," said Flyers center Danny Briere, who has scored a point in the last five games. "We know it. Sometimes you need your goalie to steal one for you. I felt like that was the case, especially in the first 40 minutes tonight. You know, we've been on the other end of the spectrum a few times. It's nice to see Michael come in and play two great games for us at home."